Luís Montenegro in Évora
The Prime Minister announced the increase in the Solidarity Supplement for the Elderly just a few days after the municipal elections. Carneiro thinks it was brazen.
Local elections and the State Budget: it was already expected that these two issues would mix in October.
The calendar dictated it: the elections were scheduled for October 12th, Sunday; The deadline for the Government’s proposal for the State Budget was Friday, October 10th. Only two days apart (the proposal was already made today, the 9th).
On Tuesday, Luís Montenegro, who Solidarity Supplement for the Elderly will increase by 40 euros. It is a proposal that is in the State Budget for 2026.
José Luís Carneiro (PS) said that this announcement, less than a week away from the local authorities, was a “blatant lack of impartiality, impartiality and independence”.
André Ventura (Chega) added that this doctor “makes the Government a kind of actor of populism and electoralism autarchic”.
Montenegro reacted and thinks that the opposition’s criticism is even a compliment to the Government’s options.
“Some say that your presentation has an electoralist aspect means that they are reflected in the content of the Budget – because only what pleases voters is electoralist”, commented the prime minister, during a campaign event in Évora for local councils on Sunday.
But Luís Montenegro is not right: when we talk about “electoralism”, we are not talking about the good of voters.
The dictionary is clear: “electoralism” is synonymous with “almost exclusive concern with elections or getting votes”.
In other words, electoralism is trying to win elections, win votes. It’s not trying to improve voters’ lives. In this word, no.
Nuno Teixeira da Silva, ZAP //
